


Balance

by MarsDragon



Category: Akumajou Dracula: Akatsuki no Menuetto & Sougetsu no Juujika | Castlevania: Aria & Dawn of Sorrow
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-03-26
Updated: 2006-03-26
Packaged: 2017-11-23 08:25:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/620077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarsDragon/pseuds/MarsDragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Little Celia sat quietly, listening to her mother tell the story and petting each one of Quatro's three heads in turn, leftmost to rightmost as the cerberus growled softly in pleasure. It was a story she had heard before, but it was one of her favorites, so that didn't matter so much. It was the story of how, long ago, one of their ancestors had found the power of summoning and binding, and of the trouble they had, and how they had finally found the balance to keep them safe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Balance

Little Celia sat quietly, listening to her mother tell the story and petting each one of Quatro's three heads in turn, leftmost to rightmost as the cerberus growled softly in pleasure. It was a story she had heard before, but it was one of her favorites, so that didn't matter so much. It was the story of how, long ago, one of their ancestors had found the power of summoning and binding, and of the trouble they had, and how they had finally found the balance to keep them safe.

Her mother leaned forward, voice growing softer as she continued to tell of the havoc the terrible summoned beasts had made when their ancestor had used them foolishly. Celia found herself leaned forward as well, holding Quatro so tight that he began to whine and squirm in protest. Everything turned out all right in the end, it was a story and one she had heard before many times, but that didn't stop her from eagerly straining to hear every word.

"...and the blood flowed through the streets, and people were being chopped up, just like that, chop chop! The summoner looked out and saw what they had done, and wept. Slowly, for it was terrible hard work, they dragged the beasts back to the netherworld, the monsters screaming and cursing all the while. In the end it was done, and the town fell mostly silent."

"And then what happened?" The question was old, ritual. She probably could've told the story better than her mother at this point.

"And then they wanted to repent of their evil ways, but were of shadow, and at the time it was known that shadow could not pass to the light. They searched, and thought, and talked with some of the greatest philosophers in the land. And slowly they came to the idea, the balance." Her mother slowed down then, speaking carefully and with the degree of solemnity such words required. "In order for shadow to exist, there must be a light to cast it. And if there is light, then there also must be shadows it casts. So then, there must be a balance kept. And I and my descendants will keep it by using darkness to further light."

Quatro scratched her and Celia yelped, finally realizing she had been holding him too tightly. She sighed and let him run off, the right and middle heads making their way directly to the food bowl and the left head immediately getting distracted by his own tail, causing no small amount of irritated yipping. Celia watched him go, then turned back to her mother, worried. "But there is no more balance, is there? The Dark Lord is dead."

Her mother patted her head a little and smiled. "I was in class when he died...I almost thought I was going to faint. Very powerful aftershocks. And yes, there is a bit of an unbalance. But it will be fixed in a few years, when the new Dark Lord steps up. Be sure to go and pay your respects, it's traditional. Now go and play outside with Quatro, I have work to do."

Celia frowned a little, not quite liking the pat explanation of why it was all right for there to be no Dark Lord, but her mother had already left, and Quatro was whining by the door to be let out into the sunlight. She made a resolution to ask later, before leaping off the couch and running to get open the door.

~~~

Celia slammed her boyfriend's door (though she wasn't quite sure if he deserved the title anymore) and had half spun around to yell at it before realizing he probably couldn't hear her and just stormed off fuming. It took her two and a half blocks to calm down enough to even start sulking, and another one before she got lonely enough to scratch out the seal and call up Quatro. It was late at night and the city was barely small enough to have a local college, so she wasn't too worried about anyone seeing the gigantic cerberus as he paced beside her on the abandoned streets.

The left head nosed at her hair a little, obviously upset at how miserable she was acting, though the right seemed more interested in the gutter. She sighed and idly reached up to scratch behind his ears while she tried to get her thoughts in order. Eventually she gave up and just started talking. "...I'd dump him, you know, but this seems like such a silly thing to break up over. Not...religion, exactly, because I'm sure people do that, but over some theological argument. It feels silly." There was a pause, and then she continued, "Not that that means he's any less wrong."

"There's just no point to his version!" Celia could feel herself getting angry again, and didn't care. "What would be the point of a hell with no people in it, or in a better world? People must hope to heaven as the best, or they will make hell of their own volition. There _must_ be both." She snarled and started to quicken her pace, Quatro's nails clicking on the pavement as he shifted into a lope in order to keep up with his mistress.

It didn't take her much longer to reach her small student apartment, and she was so absorbed in her own thoughts she was almost halfway up the staircase before she remembered about Quatro and went back down. "Sorry about that," she said, rubbing at his middle head. "I was just too busy thinking about this balance... It will all be all right in a few years, though. We just have to be patient." The right head nosed at her and she began to scratch that one as well, feeling a little happier, before sighing and pushing the cerberus away. "But for right now, you don't exactly fit into my apartment. I'll summon you back up later, as soon as I can find the time." He whined a little, but stood still as she undid the seal and sent him back to the netherworld.

She walked up the stairs and went into her apartment, then started getting ready for bed. It was late, and she was tired. It didn't really matter what he thought anyway. Evil was necessary for good to exist, but you had to be good to get the reward, nothing more or less. Grace only went so far. Celia smiled as she turned off the light and snuggled into the bed covers against the chilly air. Though her powers were dark, she only used them for the greatest good. She would see heaven.


End file.
